American press: CIA worried about Putin's secret plans to "capture" Ukraine
Putin is making secret plans to seize Ukraine, and this is very worrisome for the CIA, since a potential conflict could spill over into larger territories than Donbass and Crimea. In the meantime, Russia continues to pull troops to the Ukrainian border, says David Ignatius, the author of an article for the American edition of The Washington Post.
In October of this year, the CIA discovered the pulling of Russian troops to the Ukrainian border, Putin was preparing secret plans to use his army to seize a neighboring country, the author writes. These preparations alarmed the CIA, because the entire territory of Ukraine, and not just Donbass and Crimea, could become a zone of potential conflict.
The tension continued throughout November, the Russians continued to pull in troops, while declaring their peaceful intentions. However, Washington did not believe in Moscow's rhetoric and the head of the CIA, William Burns, flew to Russia for talks with Putin to convey to him that in the event of an invasion of Ukraine, the Russian economy would be destroyed. In December, the United States continued to pursue a "dual strategy" aimed at containing "Russian aggression." US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken held a meeting with NATO allies and brought to them the available intelligence information on "Putin's plans."
According to the author, Russia "does not give up", continuing to keep a "hundred thousand" military group on the borders of Ukraine, which will increase even more in the near future. Putin is deliberately "teasing" the West, playing a game with it and preparing a "cunning move" across Ukraine. As Ignatius writes, he will "falsely" announce an attack by the Ukrainian military on the pro-Russian forces in order to start acting. He did the same in 2014, capturing Crimea and part of the Donbass.
The Russian leader wants America to take him seriously, and he also wants to get even for humiliating Russia after the collapse of communism, the author claims.
Putin says that Russians and Ukrainians are fraternal peoples, but in reality this is not the case, Ignatius argues. According to opinion polls, more than 76% of the Ukrainian population wants to live with a "full-fledged democracy", and 82% of Ukrainians called Russia the main threat, he sums up.
This article was commented on by the readers of the Washington Post, some of whom called it custom-made and politicized, not revealing the whole truth about the state of affairs with Ukraine. However, the majority were in favor of "punishing" Russia and Putin personally, saying that it was necessary to destroy Russia from the inside.
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